Brush moistener



I IN V EN TOR. l/Gus r' C'. HUMMEL, BY La; w M

AT1-onu EYs.

Nov. 2o, 1951 Patented Nov. 20, 1951 UNITED Sii OFFICE BRUSH MOISTENER August C. Hummel, Cincinnati, Ohio \Applica,tion March 9, 1950,',S erial;No. 148,535

(Cl. ill-38) 6 Claims.

1 My invention relates to a brush moistener of the type. used for moistening adhesive coated paper labels lor tapeand. of the type generally.

shown andv describedinmycopending application.

Serial No. 624,368, led October. 25, 1945 and entitled Meistening Brush and Helder, which issued as Patent No. 2,504,690, April` 18, 1950.

Recently, it has become the practice in numereussteres ferthe clerks to wrap and. addressv parcels which are purchased and which. are te` be delivered. In doing this, the clerk tears off. a. portion ef theY sales .slip .carrying the name. and. addressof. the customer and fastens the torn olf.

por-tion to the package. or carton by means of. a strip of paper or tape. containing meistened adhesive on both sides so that one side adheres tothe container and the other. side adheres4 te the ticket. containing, the address.

My invention particularly. relates te a brush moistener which easily and quickly meistens beth sides of a.deuble.sided. adhesive tape er label at the same time.

It is an object of. my. invention to provide suchabrush moistener which will meisten both sides of the tapeor. label, While it is beingslipped through the moistener.

A further object ef my inventionis to provide a moistener as set forth above which may be easily and quickly opened se that the brush and container. may be cleaned or refilled- Withwater.

. A further object of my invention is tefprevidea moistener with all of the above enumeratedfeaturesV and wherein the moistening surfaces may be quickly and easily replaced or removed. for cleaning; A further object of my invention iste provide a moistener as described above whichl is` extremelyceinpact, relatively inexpensive to construct, but which is extremely rugged and susceptible ef continuous use'witheut deterioration or the necessity of constant adjustment, and cleaning.

These and other objects of vmy invention which will be set forth hereinafter er will be apparent tey one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain censtruction and` arrangement of parts of which I` shall new describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is new made te the drawings which ferm a part thereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of my novel brush moistener.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the moistener shown in Figurev 1 taken en the section line 2-2 of Figure 1,.

ploded condition.

Brieiiy, in the .practiceef my invention, I pro` vide a moistener of the typey shown inmy cev pending application, serial No. 624,363 wherein a fountain brush bears against the leading edge of a cover plate se as te meisten one side of a tape slidunder thetape guide. However, I pre` vide a porous strip whichh covers the underside of this tape guide and is kept in amoistened condition by the capillary action of the brush and strip when they are in contact. The porous strip is preferablywrapped around.l the tape guide and held in place by a clamping strip which in turn is held by removable nuts se that removal and replacement of the porous tape is extremely easy.

As a piece of tape or label carrying a water.

soluble. adhesive en beth surfaces is-passed under the tape guide, the end of the brush meistens the bottom surface whilethe moist porous` strip meistens the top surface. The strip or label may be torn eff in the usual manner, if desirabla. against the leading edge of theV tape guide in a similar manner as in copending application, Serial; No. 624,368..

Referring to the drawings, I provide a water container l` having a cover plate 2. either hinged te the container by the pintles 3 or resting. within the container as shown in my cepending aplplicatien, Serial No. 624,368.

The leading edge of the plate 2 carries a tape, guide strip 4 under whichthe tape er label 5 passes.

Within the container l I provide a brush 6 with its base 'l submergedin Water 8 and with its end Aaproiecting upwardly out of the Water .8 in casel l, and. positioned under the leading edge ofthe plate as exemplied by thetape guide 4.

Embracing. the tape guide 4, I provide a stripv I .B of porous materialwhich has a portion underlyingV the tape guide strip. 4 and` so arranged to be in` resilient. contact with the brush end. 9.

I preferably pass the porous strip I 0` around the trailing edge of thetape guide 4, andup over on the top of the tape guide 4. A clamping strip ilz of substantially the same size and configuration as the tape guide strp. 4 is placed. on top of the overlying portion of the porous` 'stripv I0. Bolts i2, projectupivardly from the cover portion 2 and` .run thlOllgh holes IIl. in the tape guide-and Il. inthe. clampingstrip I l. They may bespaced apaitby-.collars ,|131` The ends of the bolts I2 project beyond the clamp bar I I and the assembly is drawn together, clamping a portion of the porous strip I between the tape guide 4 and the clamp bar I I by nuts I4 placed on the ends of bolts I2.

In the event, the porous strip I0 is of appreciable thickness, I preferably space the tape guide 4 from the plane of the cover plate 2 by means of nuts or spacers I5 so as to provide a Slot I6 between the lower surface of the porous strip I0 and the surface oi the plate 2 to permit the easy insertion of the tape 5 between the brush end '9 and the porous strip IB.

From the above, it is apparent that when no strip 5 is being passed through the device, the moist end 9 of the brush 6 is in contact with the lower surface of the porous strip I0 and hence the porous strip I0 absorbs moisture and is dampened by the brush end 9.

When a strip 5 is slipped along the surface of the plate 2 and through the slot IIB and under the moist porous strip I0 and over the brush end 9, both surfaces of the strip 5 are moistened, the upper surface by the moistened porous strip II! and the lower surface by the moist brush end 49.

In order to refill the container I with water 8, it is merely necessary to either remove the cover plate 2 or lift it upwardly, as shown in the broken lines in Figure 2. In this position, the brush 6 is available for removal, if desirable, and the well of the container I may be iilled with water 3.

When it is desirable to remove the porous strip I0, it is merely necessary to remove the nuts I4 and lift over the clamping plate II. This releases the porous strip i0 which may be inverted or reversed, if it still has a clean surface or a new porous strip I0 may be inserted in place, as is apparent from the drawings, the clamp bar II being returned into position and the nuts Iii replaced.

From the above, it is apparent that I have provided a moistener which is extremely simple in construction and wherein the moistening portions themselves Amay be easily removed for cleaning or replacement.

It is also apparent that I have provided a moistener of simple construction which easily and quickly moistens both surfaces of a tape or a strip which is passed therethrough.

It is to be understood that modiication may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof and I do not intend to limit myself otherwise than as pointed out in the claims which follow.

Having thus described any invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an adhesive t'ape moistener of the class wherein a fountain brush projects upwardly out of a water container having a cover plate including a tape guide resting on the fountain brush end and under which tape is adapted to slide so as to be moistened by the water on the brush end. the combination with said tape guide of a porous strip covering at least the portion of the tape guide resting on the fountain brush so that water from the brush is absorbed by and moistens said porous strip, thus moistening the tape on both surfaces when it is slid between the porous strip and the brush end, said tape guide comprising a strip spaced away from said cover plate to provide a tape receiving slot and said porous strip comprising felted material covering the bottom of said tape guide and projecting upwardly through said tape receiving slot and folded over 4 I the top of said guide strip and retained in position by means on top of said guide strip, said means comprising a clamp bar positioned over the guide strip and clamping a portion of the felted material between the bar and the guide strip.

2. A cover plate adapted to be supported within a water containing casing and being of less width than the casing, said plate having angle pieces of less length than the casing secured thereto and providing flanges for projecting into the casing, a second plate mounted on the projecting portions above, beyond and parallel to the forward edge of the iirst mentioned plate and a third plate substantially coextensive with and mounted above said second plate with moisture absorbing felted material clamped between said second and third plate and with a trailing portion projecting downwardly between said irst and second plate and against the bottom surface of said second plate and means for moistening said trailing portion of said felted material, so as to provide a guide and moistener under which objects laid on the nrst plate may be slipped.

3. A cover plate adapted to be supported within a water containing casing and being of less width than the casing, said plate having angle pieces of less length than the casing secured thereto and providing ilanges for projecting into the casing, a second plate mounted on the projecting portions above, beyond and parallel to the forward edge of the first mentioned plate and a third plate substantially coextensive with and removably bolted on top of said second plate, moisture absorbing felted material clamped between said second and third plate and with a trailing portion projecting downwardly between said first and second plate and against the bottom surface of said second plate and means for moistening said trailing portion of said ielted material so as to provide a guide and moistener under which objects laid on the iirst plate may be slipped.

4. A cover plate adapted to be supported within a water containing casing and being of less width than the casing, said plate having angle pieces of less length than the casing secured thereto and providing anges for projecting into the casing, a second plate mounted on the projecting portions above, beyond and parallel to the forward edge of the rst mentioned plate and a third plate substantially coextensive with and mounted above said second plate with moisture absorbing felted material clamped between said second and third plate and with a trailing portion projecting downwardly between said iirst and second plate and against the bottom surface of said second plate so as to provide a guide and moistener under which objects laid on the first plate may be slipped, and a brush within said casing with the ends of its bristles contacting the felted material under said second plate.

5. A cover plate adapted to be supported within a Water containing casing and being of less width than the casing, said plate having angle pieces of less length than the casing secured thereto and providing flanges for projecting into the casing, a second plate mounted on the projecting portions above, beyond and parallel to the forward edge of the iirst mentioned plate and a third plate substantially coextensive with and mounted above said second plate with moisture absorbing felted material clamped between said second and third plate and with a trailing portion projecting downwardly between said rst and second plate and under said second plate and means for moisten-V ing said trailing portion of said felted material, so as to provide a guide and moistener under which objects laid on the first plate may be slipped, said felted material being sandwiched between said second and third plates and substantially covering the bottom of said second plate.

6. A cover plate for the purpose described comprising a substantially' large plate, two small plates of similar shape mounted one upon the other and with felted material sandwiched therebetween, said latter plates being mounted beyond one edge of the rst plate and in a plane slightly above the same, a trailing portion of the felted material projecting down through the space between the rst plate and the other plates and un- 5 the felted material.

AUGUST C. HUMMEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 422,078 Holst Feb. 25, 1890 15 2,504,690 Hummel V Apr. 18, 1950 

